RALPH NEVILLE, 2ND EARL OF WESTMORLAND – HIS HOME, BRANCEPETH CASTLE AND BURIAL IN BRANCEPETH CHURCH.

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI @sparkypus.com Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland c.1406-1484 and one of his wives.  Fine oak effigy once in Brancepeth Church, County Durham.  Destroyed 1998. Drawn by Charles Stothard c.1815. An interesting life if somewhat tinged by tragedy.    Ralph Neville 2nd Earl of Westmorland, born at Cockermouth in Cumbria (c.1406-1485) was…

The only truly medieval house left in Mousehole….

  This is only house left standing when Mousehole was burned by the Spaniards in 1595. It actually dates back to the 14th century. Maybe it doesn’t look much in the old photograph above, but its modern self is wonderful. I’m envious. All I need to raise is £750,000. Ahem….shouldn’t take long….. To read all…

Dublin Castle through history….

The Normans didn’t only conquer mainland Britain, but—as Anglo-Normans—crossed the Irish Sea to eject the Vikings from their settlement in what is now Dublin. The remains of the Viking settlement have been excavated beneath the present castle. To read about Viking Dublin, go here.   One thing led to another and in the 13th century…

No longer passing the Buc(k)?

Now for some very interesting news: Arthur Kincaid’s The History of King Richard the Third is set for a new edition, based on forty years of further research. Kincaid has managed to distinguish the forensic research of Sir George Buc (1560-1622), whose great-grandfather fought at Bosworth and whose grandfather was at Flodden, from that of…

Walking “Tudor” England

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…

OLD LONDON BRIDGE – A MEDIEVAL WONDER!

REBLOGGED FROM sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri  London from Southwark, c.1630. Old London Bridge is in the right foreground and Old St Paul’s Cathedral on the skyline to the left.  Old London Bridge Antiquated, in a run down state, and at 600 years old, the old bridge had reached its self by date and was demolished in…

Watch out for fire if you see a “grant”….!

I’ve had cause to investigate a particular mythical creature of the English medieval period. It is mentioned in a fascinating chapter of Martyn Whittock’s Life in the Middle Ages, which concerns signs, marvels, dreams and so on. On page 224 of my copy I came upon the following:- “….Gervase [of Tilbury described] creatures he named…

The lost palace of Whitehall brought back to life….

To cut a long story short, this site  (5th July 2016) relates that Historic Royal Palaces has embarked upon a project to allow visitors to explore the Palace of Whitehall, which was largely destroyed by fire in the late 17th century.  I hope that by now it is fact, and available. Whitehall, which was destroyed by…

The lost palace of Sheen…er, Richmond….

This link will take you to a very interesting and information article about Richmond Palace, which was formerly the Palace of Sheen. It led a very chequered life, being destroyed by a king’s grief and then by fire. It was also the scene of Henry VII’s death.  

A Time for Truth, a Time for Lies…or for Pretended Obliviousness and Bullying Tactics

 My thanks to everyone at Murrey & Blue who helped with this article. It was very much a team effort, and you know who you are. An Elizabethan Professor Introduced Me to Richard A long time ago, at a university far away, I took a class on medieval history from a professor who thought Elizabeth…